Album Reviews : The Mung – The Splatter Sessions

Clocking in at just under fifteen minutes, The Splatter Sessions is a torturously short debut release presenting a band that are undoubtedly going to skyrocket to the top of the local grind scene. On the surface, Melbourne’s The Mung, featuring members of The Ocularis Infernum and Among the Devoured, has everything you would come to expect; humorously sick song titles, short track lengths, samples from various movies, and a toilet on the cover. But at the end of the day, it’s the music that counts, and by George these guys do it well.

“You Caught a Yeast Infection From a Priests Erection” (which has guest vocals by Jay of Fuck… I’m Dead) has one of the grooviest grooves to come out of any grind/slam band in yonks, while the combination of vocals in “Digesting Dad’s Dirty Dingers” results in a truly hectic minute and a half. The balance of aggression and melody is dead on throughout the whole release, with the movie samples, which range from hilarious to slightly disturbing, breaking the tracks up nicely and successfully removing the need for any seconds of silence. Alternating between pig squeals and brutal yet smooth death growls, vocalist James Turfney has just enough variety to stop the overall sound from tipping into the sea of monotony. And topping all of that off, the chunky production, presumably thanks to mixer Jason P.C of Blood Duster, really gives The Mung’s bass-heavy sound the boost it needs.

While ultimately a mere taste of what’s to come, The Splatter Sessions has already become one of my go-to releases when the craving for some aggressive slams shows it’s face. 8/10

Mitch Booth is the owner, designer and grand overlord of Metal Obsession. In the few seconds of spare time he has outside of this site, he also hosts a metal radio show over on PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne (Australia) and organises shows under the name Untitled Touring. You should follow him on Twitter.